December 28, 2024
Sports

Lionel Messi well ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo on list of top five best paid footballers

Surprise player included in the top five best paid footballers
Lionel Messi was well ahead of his rivals (Getty)

Lionel Messi has pocketed nearly £30million more than Cristiano Ronaldo this season, while Gerard Pique is the fifth best paid player in the world, according to research.

France Football is set to publish a list of the best paid players, taking into consideration not only their wages but also bonuses and sponsorship deals.

Messi comes out top, with the Barcelona star raking in an incredible £110million.

More: Football

His Real Madrid rival Ronaldo earned £82m, while Paris St Germain striker Neymar had an income of £71m.

Surprise player included in the top five best paid footballers
Ronaldo hates settling for second place (Getty)

The five highest earning footballers of 2017/18

  1. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona): £110m
  2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid): £82m
  3. Neymar (Paris SG): £71m
  4. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid): £39m
  5. Gerard Pique (FC Barcelona): £25m

Fourth on the list is Gareth Bale, despite the Real Madrid forward enduring a difficult campaign in which hes started just 16 La Liga games.

Surprise player included in the top five best paid footballers
Gerard Pique (Getty)

In fifth is Pique, a surprising inclusion considering he plays in defence. Typically strikers are the best rewarded players, but the Barcelona centre-back has crept in with earnings of £25m during 2017/18.

MORE: FA apologise for tweet mocking Harry Kane after FA Cup semi-final defeat

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